Interview: Jakes progress

From tortured teenager to action hero? Well ... The Day After Tomorrow is about a dysfunctional family, Jake Gyllenhaal tells David Eimer

There is a melancholic yet goofy quality to Jake Gyllenhaal. It has ensured that, in his short career, he has so far specialised in playing tortured adolescents. In the wonderfully bizarre Donnie Darko, his disturbed high-school student has apocalyptic visions that are inspired by a malevolent giant rabbit, while in The Good Girl, he was an obsessive loner whose pursuit of Jennifer Aniston’s older, married woman led to disaster. But Gyllenhaal (pronounced Jill-en-hall) has had enough of playing the neighbourhood weirdo. In fact, he’s almost dismissive of the parts that have established him as the brightest prospect among the young American actors, including Hayden Christensen, Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood, who have emerged in Hollywood over the past couple of years. “I don’t think those will be my favourite roles,” he says, in a soft voice, “because it’s easier to play a dysfunctional character than it is to join the